1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printed circuit board connector, which is mounted on a printed circuit board and connected to a mating connector.
2. Related Art
For example, in a lever combination switch for use in a vehicle, two units (that is, printed circuit boards) are electrically connected to each other by using connectors. Hitherto, this has been performed by mounting male connectors on both the printed circuit boards, respectively, and then connecting the male connectors to each other by using a cable having both ends to which female connectors are respectively attached. However, in the related case of connecting the printed circuit boards by using such a cable, there are problems in that the number of man-hours required to assemble such parts into an apparatus is large, that moreover, the number of the parts is large, and that consequently, the assembling cost thereof is high.
Thus, there has been devised a method of mounting a male connector on one of the printed circuit boards and also mounting a female connector on the other printed circuit board and then directly connecting these connectors to each other. This enables the solution of the problems. However, this method causes problems that the positional displacement between the male and female connectors occurs owing to variation in assembling accuracy (that is, an assembling tolerance) in assembling the units (namely, the printed circuit boards), and that thus, the connection between the male and female connectors is not successfully established.
The invention is accomplished in view of the aforementioned circumstances. Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a printed circuit board connector enabled to be connected to a mating connector by absorbing the positional displacement between the connectors, which is caused owing to variation in assembling accuracy.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a printed circuit board connector which is mounted on a printed circuit board and detachably connected to a mating connector, the printed circuit board connector comprising:
a connector housing including a lower housing mounted on the printed circuit board, and an upper housing connected to the lower housing so as to allow shifting movement between the upper and lower housings; and
at least one terminal, abase end of the at least one terminal supported by a supporting portion of the lower housing, a tip end of the at least one terminal is supported by a support portion of the upper housing, wherein the at least one terminal is held between the support portions of the upper and lower housings so that a bending deformation of the at least one terminal caused by the shifting movement is allowed.
According to a second aspect of the invention, in the printed circuit board connector of the first aspect, the mating connector mounted on another printed circuit board is connected to the upper housing to connect the printed circuit boards to each other.
According to a third aspect of the invention, in the printed circuit board connector of the first aspect, the supporting portion of the lower housing includes a tapered hole portion whose diameter gradually increases toward the upper housing for allowing the bending deformation.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the printed circuit board connector of the first aspect, the upper housing includes an engaging hook, the lower housing includes an engaging concave portion engage able with the engaging hook, and a gap is formed between the upper and lower housing for allowing the shifting movement, when the engaging hook is engaged with the engaging concave portion.
According to the printed circuit board connector, the connector housing is divided into two members, that is, the lower housing, which is fixed to a printed circuit board, and the upper housing that is enabled to perform shifting movement with respect to the lower housing. Thus, even when there is some positional displacement between the printed circuit board connector and the mating connector, these connectors can be connected to each other by simultaneously absorbing the positional displacement therebetween by utilizing the shifting movement of the upper housing thereby to enable the absorption of the positional displacement therebetween.
At that time, in the connector housing, the terminal is provided in such a way as to extend over both the lower housing and the upper housing. Thus, there is a fear that the terminal is broken or bent by the shifting movement of the upper housing. However, the terminal is held between the supporting portions of both the lower housing and the upper housing in a state in which the bending deformation thereof is allowed. Consequently, occurrences of problems, such as breakage and bend of the terminals due to the bending deformation thereof, are prevented.
According to the second aspect, when the printed circuit boards are connected to each other, the circuit boards can be directly connected to each other by simultaneously absorbing the positional displacement between the connectors, which is caused owing to variation in assembling accuracy. Consequently, the number of man-hours required to assemble the parts is decreased. Moreover,the number of the parts is reduced. Thus, an inexpensive connecting structure is realized.